Goldman Sachs rang in the new year by helping 10 executives dodge the fiscal cliff, paying out their stock awards before the beginning of 2013, meaning they avoided an automatic tax rate increase.

The bank accelerated delivery of $US65 million ($61.9 million) in stock awards, including those for chief executive Lloyd C. Blankfein.

The awards are restricted stock granted for years before 2012, according to 10 separate filings made public about 8pm New York time on December 31.

Each executive surrendered 45 per cent to 50 per cent of their awards in order to pay taxes, according to the filings.

The firm's stock climbed 41 per cent in 2012, its first annual gain since 2009.

Goldman Sachs, the fifth-biggest US bank by assets, typically delivers executives' restricted stock during January. The decision to speed up the delivery came as the US Congress debated and ultimately passed a bill that would increase tax rates on capital gains and on individuals who make taxable income of $US400,000 or more.

"The December delivery of shares went to a wider group of employees than the named executive officers [who were included in the filings]," said Michael DuVally, a spokesman for the New York-based firm. He declined to comment on the reason for the accelerated delivery or on which other employees received stock early.

Blankfein, 58, has said he would be willing to pay higher taxes if they were part of a fiscal compromise to reduce the budget deficit. He praised the bill that passed the House of Representatives.

'Step forward'

"This agreement is a step forward to injecting growth and investor confidence into the US economy," he said.

"While more progress clearly will be needed, particularly in regards to restraining the growth in government spending, this measure lays the foundation for more economic growth."

Blankfein received 66,065 shares of restricted stock on December 31, worth $US8.43 million at the closing share price that day, according to a company filing. The filing shows that he sold 33,245 shares for $US126.24 apiece, although a footnote explains that those shares were in fact retained by the company "to satisfy withholding obligations".

Goldman Sachs wasn’t the only firm to help its executives reduce their tax bill. Jefferies Group, the investment bank that agreed in November to sell itself to its biggest shareholder, Leucadia National, accelerated the delivery of dividends in the form of deferred shares to its executives on December 31, according to company filings.

Gary D. Cohn, 52, Goldman Sachs’s president and chief operating officer, and David A. Viniar, 57, the firm’s chief financial officer, received the same number of shares as Blankfein and had the same amount withheld, according to filings.

The other executives who received and surrendered shares for withholding purposes were vice-chairmen John S. Weinberg, 55, and J. Michael Evans, 55; Edith Cooper, the 51-year-old head of human capital management; John F.W. Rogers, the firm’s 56-year-old chief of staff; general counsel Gregory K. Palm, 64; global head of compliance Alan M. Cohen, 62; and chief accounting officer Sarah Smith.

Goldman Sachs is required to file disclosures of changes in stock ownership by its 12 executive officers. The firm made no disclosures of stock activity on December 31 by vice-chairman Michael S. Sherwood, a 47-year-old British citizen based in London, or by Mark Schwartz, the Hong Kong-based head of the firm’s Asian business. Schwartz, a 58-year-old US citizen, rejoined the firm in June after 11 years away.